Noble Family Legend

         Centuries ago, a few years after the creation of civilization and society, the Noble family was considered to be of great importance, and given a great deal of respect from other families. At that time, the female head of the family was pregnant with her first child.
She was a very brash, adventurous woman, and continued exploring the family’s estate, despite being nine months pregnant. While the woman was wandering the outskirts of the property one day, she came across a large cave. She had never seen this cave before, and knew the layout of the land like the back of her hand.
         The woman was overcome with curiosity, and stepped into the opening of the cave without even giving it a single thought. As she ventured deeper into the cave, although it was noticeably darker inside, the woman still had an abnormal amount of visibility. She looked around and spotted a faint glow coming from a little further down what had turned into more of a tunnel than an ordinary cave. The glow intensified as she continued along the tunnel path, and the woman discovered something extraordinary lighting her way.
         She stood in awe of the glittering crystals protruding from the walls of the cave that emitted light, as if to serve as torches. The woman was entranced by this mystical sight in front of her. She reached out to touch one, and to her surprise, the crystals seemed to be cleanly cut with smooth sides, and the crystal itself was cool to the touch. The intrigued woman continued on, and she began hearing the sound of strained heavy breathing a small distance away.
         The woman called out into the darkness, and her call was answered with two large, striking green eyes that emerged from the depths of the shadows. Startled, the woman took a few steps back as the old dragon lifted his head.
         In a calm tone, the dragon asked the woman how she was able to break through his barrier. After she explained the sudden appearance of the cave entrance, the dragon let out a heavy sigh. He told the woman that his magic must have finally failed him. The woman approached the dragon slowly as the crystals surrounding them glowed brighter. She placed her hand gently on the old beast’s snout, and asked him if he was dying.
         The dragon exhaled heavily and looked to the woman’s unborn child. He said that he was making room for that human baby girl, and advised the woman to leave before her daughter entered the world. The woman’s eyes glistened when she found out she was having a daughter, since they had no way of knowing using the current technology. At that moment, she instantly felt attached to this creature, and shook her head, her long ebony hair flowing back and forth as she did so. The woman then cringed as she leaned against the wall of the cave, and the two looked at each other, already knowing what was about to happen.
         The kind old soul began to peel soft, plush-like moss off of the wall behind him, and placing it down in front of the woman. He continued to gather enough moss to form a make-shift bed for his human guest. The woman seemed surprised that the dragon apparently had some kind of medicinal knowledge in regards to humans.
         The dragon used every last bit of the strength he had left to help deliver a human child that he had no connection to. The woman was beyond grateful, and she begged him to let her help him. But the gentle giant said that his time was up. He believed that dragons had terrorized the humans for far too long. Even though he had never laid a claw on a human life in his entire existence, he thought it best for his species to fade away, which included he himself. The woman saw in the creature’s eyes that he was suffering, and so she requested he do one last thing for her. She said that this would be a favor to her, not her repaying him.
         The dragon grinned as the woman told him that her last request to him was for his kindness to be remembered long after her child was gone. He admired her determination to give him some kind of compensation, so he offered her a shard of his sacred crystal. Every dragon had their own unique crystal formations, which encased the very essence of their souls.
         The dragon told her that this shard would fuse into the family’s bloodline for the rest of their existence, and her child would be the first of many to have a small crystal fragment embedded in the side of her neck. After the child died, the fragment would reappear in the neck of another newborn child every few generations, and one day, his soul would manifest itself once the right companion was born. The dragon told the woman that this was the way she could thank him, and she happily obliged.
         The mystical dragon also told the woman that the child would be blessed with his magical affinity. Before she could ask what that affinity was, the old dragon rested his head on the floor of the cave, closed his eyes, and peacefully passed away.
         The woman did the best she could for her special short-lived friendship, and she had a few of her servants block the cave entrance, which would now serve as his grave. The woman returned to the main estate, carrying her newborn baby girl, who had a small shard of crystal quartz embedded in the side of her neck.
         After she returned, the woman told her husband of the events that transpired. The man was overjoyed that both his child and the love of his life had come back to him safely. They immediately threw a celebration for the birth of their first child.
         For the first few years of the young girl’s life, she exhibited no signs of any special abilities. But on the child’s sixth birthday, the quartz shard began emitting a soft glow, and some of the girl’s toys crystallized when she touched them. Soon after the family began finding other family members and servants turned completely into crystal.
         Some family members began to fear the young child, whose only crime was being unable to control powers she knew nothing about. The elders of the Noble family wanted to remove the threat, but they knew that the head of the family, the girl’s father, would never allow it. So they betrayed the man’s trust, and the woman found her husband on the floor of his study, face down in a pool of his own blood, with a longsword plunged in his back.
         She and her innocent child fled from their home, forced to go into hiding. The girl’s mother told her the story of the shard’s origin when she was old enough to understand. The crystal’s glow faded over time, and she never showed any signs of magical ability for the rest of her life. She came to understand that she wasn’t the shard child capable enough to become the destined companion.
         That little girl eventually became a woman, and started a family of her own. From her generation onwards, the story of her birth would continue to be passed on, until the perfect companion was born. Even on her deathbed. she made sure to utter one last reminder of the kind mystical creature, the kindest dragon known to mankind.